‘Is a little more alright?’

Inaugural speech Short version has been spoken on November 14th, 2014 at the occasion of acceptance of the position of full professor of ‘Public commissioning’ at the Faculty of Architecture of Delft University of Technology.Intreerede In verkorte vorm uitgesproken op 14 november 2014 ter gelegenheid van de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar ‘Publiek Opdrachtgeverschap’ aan de faculteit Bouwkunde van de Technische Universiteit Delft.Public Commissionin

Publieke Opdrachtgever als Lerende Organisatie: Een Handreiking

De bouwsector is een projectensector: van woningbouw tot gebiedsontwikkeling, we organiseren onze activiteiten in projecten. Die projectstructuur blijkt – zowel in de praktijk als volgens de theorie – het structureel leren niet eenvoudig te maken. Voor vernieuwing in de bouwsector wordt leren echter als belangrijk en essentieel gezien. Enerzijds omdat zo het wiel niet steeds opnieuw wordt uitgevonden en er aandacht kan zijn voor innovatie. Anderzijds omdat het eenvoudigweg efficiënter werkt als je eerdere ervaringen mee kunt nemen. In deze handreiking kijken we naar hoe het leren in project georiënteerde organisaties in de bouw verbeterd kan worden. Dat is relevant voor publieke en semipublieke opdrachtgevers, zoals gemeenten, corporaties en waterschappen, maar zeker ook in het private domein, waaronder het bouwbedrijfsleven.Deze publicatie is gebaseerd op eerder onderzoek van de TU Delft (prof.dr.ir. Marleen Hermans, ir. Lizet Kuitert, dr.ir. Leentje Volkert) en de VU Amsterdam (prof.dr. Alfons van Marrewijk, Thijs Willems (MSc)).Public Commissionin

Behind the Scenes of Public Construction Clients – Collecting Data on Commissioning Activities and Organisational Approach

The understanding of public commissioning activity is fairly limited, with national and European research primarily focusing on large scale projects, European procurement procedures and new construction. However, most construction activities involve small scale projects and assignments performed by smaller scale semi-public organisations such as hospitals, schools or housing associations. Similarities and differences between new construction and asset management have not received ample attention in quantitative research. In order to increase the knowledge on public commissioning activity in the Netherlands, an on-line cross-sector survey has been developed. This paper describes the design and methodology of the survey and its current status.Real Estate and HousingArchitecture and The Built Environmen

The impact of shifting values on the role and responsibilities of the construction client in delivering public goods

In today’s construction industry we witness an increase in public private collaboration in the delivery of public goods. By transferring operational responsibility to private contractors, public construction clients have fewer possibilities to directly influence and steer the outcomes of these processes while remaining socio-political responsible.In this paper we aim to explore how public construction clients try to find a balance in public value management activities by rethinking their roles and responsibilities in the client-contractor relationship. This paper results of a set of semi-structured interviews with different actors playing a part in commissioning of organisations with different degrees of publicness are presented. Results indicate that the alignment of the client role and change in responsibilities should be rather flexible in order to deal with the restrictions that procedural values such as lawfulness, reliability and transparency bring along. This requires significant changes in the interpretation of the commissioning profession and the transformation of the collaborative relationship in public private collaboration. Further research should look more closely into the alignment of the shifted roles and responsibilities and organizational- and steering mechanisms that could be applied to enhance this value shift in practice.Public Commissionin

Samenwerking in beheer en onderhoud: De rol van het mkb als partner

Ondanks het grote aantal repetitieve, kleine activiteiten dat wordt uitgevoerd voor publieke opdrachtgevers, ontbreekt het zowel in de praktijk als in de wetenschappelijke literatuur aan inzicht in de succesfactoren van dit type opgaven. Dit beperkt de mogelijkheden tot het doorvoeren van relevante verbeteringen ten aanzien van de samenwerking en de eigen rol van de publieke en private organisaties hierin. Dit onderzoek heeft zich daarom gericht op de samenwerking van waterschappen en marktpartijen specifiek bij kleinschalige repetitieve werkzaamheden. Het onderzoek bestaat uit de analyse van portfolio's van waterschappen en interviews met zowel waterschapsmedewerkers als marktpartijen.Uit de analyse van inkooporders blijkt dat repetitive werkzaamheden kunnen worden onderverdeeld in vijf typen, waarvan werkzaamheden aan watergangen de meest voorkomende zijn. Het inzicht in deze activiteiten en hun financiële omvang is van cruciaal belang voor optimalisatie.Het onderzoek identificeert de elementen in de samenwerking tussen waterschappen en marktpartijen die bijdragen aan efficiëntere uitvoering van repetitive werkzaamheden: inzicht in de markt, bundeling door opdrachtgever(s) in relatie tot ondernemerschap bij de opdrachtnemer(s), communicatie, lerend vermogen, en formele en informele contractmanagement.Dit onderzoek draagt bij aan het optimaliseren van de samenwerking tussen waterschappen en marktpartijen in repetitive werkzaamheden, wat leidt tot efficiëntere en effectievere uitvoering van deze taken in de waterbouwsector.The research is funded by the Unie van Waterschappen (Dutch Water Authorities), six water authorities (Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier, waterschap Noorderzijlvest, waterschap Rivierenland, Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland, waterschap Scheldestromen, waterschap Hollandse Delta) and Hoogwaterbeschermingsprogramma.Design & Construction Managemen

Do public sector clients have to collaborate with contractors?

Recently in the Netherlands collaboration emerged as the proposed best way of working together. Clients and contractors are promoting collaboration, and they also prescribe collaboration in their future visions on the construction sector. We challenge this automatism by which collaboration is chosen as the most effective and efficient way. We did an extensive qualitative literature review in order to answer the research question: how can public clients and private contractors work together effective and efficient? At first a definition of collaboration is constructed, and the characteristics of the public sector in the Netherlands are discussed along three themes: power, resources, and procurement. The definition of collaboration and public sector construction project characteristics are then compared to show how collaboration is not suitable for all projects, and other forms of working together are discussed.Public Commissionin

A Public Commissioning Maturity Model for Construction Clients

Being a public organization with construction needs, whether they are housing, building or infrastructure related, implies close co-operation and interaction with the supply chain. Substantial research exists that focuses on project related aspects of commissioning and on the role of the construction client in general. Only limited research has been done, however, into the impact of organizational characteristics on the level of professionalism and competences of commissioning entities. This research is particularly relevant, when public organizations are re-evaluating their sourcing strategy. As part of the establishment of a new chair of public commissioning, the development of a 'Public Commissioning Maturity Model' (PCCM) is presented in this paper. The model aims to identify the key characteristics of being a competent construction client. The overall aim of this research is to establish an overview of and insight into the nature and impact of characteristics of public organisations as determinants of their professionalism as public commissioning entities. In the PCMM, for each aspect of the commissioning role, maturation stages are defined. Research methods used include a literature survey and expert sessions. The model and methodology build on maturity models developed in asset and project management, supply chain management and purchasing. The research resulted in a framework containing a set of coherent aspects jointly framing the concept of 'professional public commissioning'. This framework can be applied by public commissioning entities to explore their current status and define their desired further development.Real Estate & HousingArchitecture and The Built Environmen

Inbedding van de opdrachtgevende rol in gemeentelijke organisaties

Public Commissionin

Definitely Not a Walk in the Park: Coping with Competing Values in Complex Project Networks

Complex project networks confront project actors, with value pluralism originating from a plethora of competing organizational and institutional systems related to the project environment. Using a single urban redevelopment case study, we present a dynamic understanding of the emergence and nature of conflicts in different conflict arenas of collaborative project networks. We identify seven coping patterns to reduce and engage with this complexity in the process of delivering value throughout projects. The coping patterns enable a more dynamic and flexible approach toward conflict management in project networks with a high degree of conflicting project interests.Design & Construction Managemen

Navigating value systems in urban PPP projects

Today’s societal challenges increasingly ask for collaborations of public, private and societal parties to achieve public goals though public service delivery projects. In these PPPs project managers have to align the interests of the permanent parent organization with the interests of the temporary project organization. Especially in urban area development projects a network of multiple internal and external actors creates a situation in which public construction client organizations must cope with different logics in, often conflicting, value systems. They are challenged to balance values related to their legal obligations, such as reliability and equity, and the increasingly important values related both product and process innovation. We use an in-depth case study to identify the main tensions that are present between the different logics of the public, private and societal organizations involved in the delivery of public goods and services in the supply chain of an urban area project. And identify different resources (administrative and otherwise) that are consciously or unconsciously deployed coper with value conflicts. The fieldwork was conducted between June 2017 and December 2018 and consisted of interviews, observations and document analysis. Using public value process mapping, we followed both top-down and bottom-up strategy alignment practices. Findings show that the particularly participatory context displays a mixture of three logics; 1) the logic of the public commissioning organization, 2) the logic of residents organized in a panel and 3) the business logics of local suppliers organized in a tender pool. We identified various collective or individual, formal or informal, or defensive or active strategic responses to these conflicting values systems. Results of the study will increase the awareness of project managers on steering public values within the public domain and can be used to explicate thepallet of safeguarding mechanisms that are applied in construction projects.Public Commissionin